Feb. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Warren Buffett disclosed that
Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s foreign-government debt holdings are
comprised mostly of securities from Germany, the U.K., Canada,
Australia and the Netherlands, indicating the portfolio has less
at risk from higher yielding European sovereign issuers.

About 80 percent of its $10.8 billion in non-U.S.
government-related debt are from those nations, according to the
Feb. 25 annual report. A year ago Omaha, Nebraska-based
Berkshire said in a filing that it had $11.9 billion of foreign
government debt without identifying the countries.

European leaders have sought to contain the region’s
sovereign debt crisis from spreading to nations including
Portugal and Italy by shoring up the region’s banking system
with cash and bailing out Greece while trying to reach an
agreement with lenders to reduce the nation’s debt burden.

“If a firm is looking at government debt as a source of
potential liquidity, then it’s extremely important to remain in
these bulletproof nations,” Guy LeBas, chief fixed-income
strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott LLC in Philadelphia, said
in a telephone interview today. “The list of names is certainly
on the higher end of sovereign credit.”

German 10-year bonds yield 1.8 percent, having declined
from a high last year of 3.5 percent in April, as investors
sought a haven in the debt of Europe’s strongest economy. That
compares with 5.4 percent yields on 10-year Italian debt which
climbed to a record 7.3 percent in 2011.

‘Little Bit Short’

“Any disclosure you can get on what sort of European
exposure that you have, as an investor that’s important given
the environment,” said Tom Lewandowski, an analyst with Edward
Jones & Co. in St. Louis who has a “buy” rating on Berkshire.
“I am a little bit surprised. If anything, we’re a little bit
short on details when it comes to Berkshire. Any details that he
can put out that can help us draw a little bit deeper on his
investment story, I welcome that.”

Buffett, Berkshire’s chairman and chief executive officer,
said last year in the company’s annual letter to shareholders
that its strategy is to keep cash “largely in U.S. Treasury
bills and avoid other short-term securities yielding a few more
basis points.”

Berkshire’s fixed-maturity portfolio had $2.9 billion of
Treasuries and other U.S. government debt as of Dec. 31, and the
company had $37.3 billion of cash, according to a filing.

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, who replaced
Jean-Claude Trichet in November, cut the main refinancing rate
by a quarter percentage point in each of his first two monthly
meetings, to 1 percent, reversing increases earlier in the year.
He also maintained the ECB’s bond-buying program and added money
to the banking system by making three-year loans available in
December.

“Clarity and transparency are paramount today, and I think
it was totally appropriate and prudent for Berkshire to disclose
their holdings,” Joel Levington, head of corporate credit at
Brookfield Asset Management Inc. in New York, said today. “It’s
a matter of prudent financial management.”